Office Hours

Patients are usually seen from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The office hours of individual doctors and nurse practitioners may vary. Please ask our office personnel for more information.

Making an Appointment

Office visits are by appointment only. To schedule an appointment, please call 408-369-5600 for San Jose and 650-969-5600 for Mountain View, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. or simply complete an online appointment request form. A patient package containing information about California Skin Institute, and patient registration and health history forms may be downloaded here.

First Visit

If you have not downloaded and completed our new patient package, please arrive 15 minutes early to sign in and complete a simple registration form that includes insurance coverage information and your health history. If another doctor has referred you, please indicate his or her name and address so a report can be sent.

Please bring with you:

• All insurance information including your card(s) with group or plan numbers
• Your ID number and mailing address for both primary and secondary insurance carriers
• A list of all prescription and non-prescription medications you are currently and have recently been prescribed
• All dermatologic medications you have been using for your skin condition

Insurance and Cosmetic Procedures

We are proud to be on most PPO insurance plans and many of the HMO plans. Some providers may not be on the HMO plans. All HMO patients require valid referrals to be seen and HMO patients without valid referrals will be responsible for their office visit fees at the time of service.

We will bill your office visit fees to your insurance company as long as we are contracted with your plan. If we are not in your plan, you will be responsible for all office fees at the time of your visit. Our Itemized care slip includes all of the necessary information for you to file an insurance claim directly. We bill directly for all Medicare patients.

Please remember to bring all insurance information for primary and secondary insurers with you at the time of service.

You will be responsible for all cosmetic procedure fees at the time of your visit. This includes procedures deemed cosmetic by your physician including removal of skin tags, removal of benign moles, and removal of seborrheic keratoses or keratoses. All laser procedures are considered cosmetic unless your physician specifies otherwise. If you subsequently bill your insurance company for a cosmetic procedure and your insurance company erroneously covers the procedure, you are not entitled to reimbursement by our office and we are obligated to notify your insurance company of their error.

Cosmetic surgery procedure fees are due at least 2 weeks prior to your surgery appointment and are non-refundable within 72 hours of your procedure. If your surgery is canceled between 2 weeks prior to surgery and 3 days prior to surgery, your fee is not refundable however the fee amount may be credited toward another procedure that must be completed within 12 months. If you cancel within 72 hours of your surgery, the fee is not refundable. A partial credit of your fees may be possible depending on our ability to fill the office time/surgery center slots left vacant by the cancellation of your surgical procedure.

Financing options for cosmetic procedures are available by contacting our Patient Care Coordinators at any office. You may learn more by visiting our Financing information page.

Missed Appointments

There is a $75.00 missed appointment fee if you cancel or reschedule an appointment with less than 24 hour advance notice or if you fail to arrive for your appointment. We utilize an automated call reminder service, which will call a number you have given us 2 days prior to your appointment. Do not rely on this service as your only reminder to keep your scheduled appointment, as we cannot guarantee that the call will absolutely be made, or that the number provided is accurate or functional for this purpose.

California Skin Institute Accepts Covered California

We are pleased to inform you that California Skin Institute now accepts all Covered California plans.

Discrimination is Against the Law

California Skin Institute complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. California Skin Institute does not exclude people or treat them differently because of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.

For more information, please go to: https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/section-1557/translated-resources/index.html?language=es

California Skin Institute

• Provides free aids and services to people with disabilities to communicate effectively with us, such as:
  • Qualified sign language interpreters
  • Written information in other formats (large print, audio, accessible electronic formats, other formats)
• Provides free language services to people whose primary language is not English, such as:
  • Qualified interpreters
  • Information written in other languages

If you need these services, please call our office and ask to speak with the Regional Manager.

If you believe that California Skin Institute has failed to provide these services or discriminated in another way on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex, you can file a grievance with: Vanessa Morado, 525 South Dr, #115, Mountain View, CA 94040, (650) 969-5600. You can file a grievance in person or by mail, fax, or email. If you need help filing a grievance, Vanessa Morado is available to help you.

You can also file a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, electronically through the Office for Civil Rights Complaint Portal, available at https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/portal/lobby.jsf, or by mail or phone at:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW
Room 509F, HHH Building
Washington, D.C. 20201
1-800-368-1019, 800-537-7697 (TDD)
Complaint forms are available at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/office/file/index.html.